Former Red Sox second baseman Bobby Doerr passes away at 99 years old

Tuesday

Bobby Doerr, the oldest living former major-leaguer, died Monday night at his home in Oregon, the Red Sox announced. Doerr was 99.

BOSTON — The final link to the great Red Sox teams of the past has passed on.

Bobby Doerr, the oldest living former major-leaguer, died Monday night at his home in Oregon, the Red Sox announced. Doerr was 99.

Doerr was, as Ted Williams famously called him, "the silent captain of the Red Sox." Williams and his prodigious numbers may have stolen the show for that era’s Red Sox, but Doerr was as capable a sidekick as any in the game throughout the 1940s.

The type of player who would likely be appreciated more by today’s standards, Doerr hit .288 with a .362 on-base percentage over 14 years with the Red Sox — nine of which included an appearance in the All-Star Game. He launched 223 home runs, showcasing unconventional power for a second baseman.

Doerr owns the three highest home-run totals for a second baseman in Sox history, twice hitting 27 in a year. Six times he drove in 100 or more runs; only two second basemen in history have done it more often. Only one other Boston second baseman has ever reached that mark even once.

In the field, he was more solid than flashy, holding the game’s longest errorless streak for a second baseman for a time.

Returning from military service alongside Williams and Johnny Pesky in 1946, Doerr was a star for Boston’s pennant-winner. Those Sox went from seventh to first with their three stars back, all of whom finished in the top four in the American League MVP voting. Doerr at third was two spots behind Williams and one spot ahead of Pesky. Unlike those two, he shined in the seven-game series loss to the Cardinals, hitting .409.

He would often call playing in the World Series one of the greatest thrills of his life.

He retired after the 1951 season at 33 years old because of back pain. The keystone is and always has been tough on the body.

Doerr was celebrated as much for what he did on the field as for his grace and class off of it. Along with Williams, Pesky and DiMaggio, he’s immortalized outside Fenway Park in the bronze statue of "The Teammates," unveiled in 2010.

He waited 35 years to be inducted into the Hall of Fame via the veterans committee in 1986. Eschewing a flight to Cooperstown, he instead drove from his longtime home in Junction City, Oregon, across the country. Once he arrived, he felt more like a spectator than an honoree.

"Well, I’ll be darned. When I look at the Hall of Fame, I think of Gehrig, Ruth, DiMaggio, Clemente, Aaron. I have a tough time thinking of myself in a class with those guys," he said that summer. "I feel like the guy who stands in line for a couple of hours to see a movie, and when he finally gets in it’s worth the wait. Seeing all these great Hall of Fame ballplayers makes me feel like a boy, not a man of 68."

The day in 1988 that his No. 1 became the third number retired by the Red Sox — after only his manager Joe Cronin and his teammate Williams — Doerr was characteristically modest.

"I got to play with a lot of great ballplayers over the years," he said, in brief on-field remarks. "It was because of them that I’m having this very nice honor today."

Years later, he’d smile anytime he caught a glimpse of that No.1 plastered on the right-field façade at Fenway, part of an ever-growing list of Red Sox luminaries.

"Bobby Doerr was part of an era of baseball giants and still stood out as one himself," principal owner John Henry said in an emailed statement. "And even with his Hall of Fame achievements at second base, his character and personality outshined it all. He will be missed."

"Bobby’s life is one we salute not only for its longevity, but for its grace," said chairman Tom Werner. "He set the standard for what it means to be a good teammate through abiding friendships with Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, and Dom DiMaggio, all while realizing legendary status on the diamond. He touched us all with his class and dignity, and will remain an example and an inspiration for generations of players to come."

Doerr made his last public appearance at Fenway Park in 2012, as the park celebrated the 100th anniversary of its opening. He and Pesky were wheeled out to the middle infield last, to thunderous applause.

"Waiting back in the tunnel out in center field, guys were laughing, talking, slapping each other on the back," Kevin Millar said that day. "But when Johnny and Bobby came out, that was tear-jerking."

"There is something fitting about Bobby Doerr becoming the patriarch of baseball, outliving all of those he played with and against," president Sam Kennedy said. "Bobby was a special player, to be sure, a Hall of Famer, but he also commanded universal respect from all those fortunate enough to have crossed his path. We celebrated his return every time he came back to us here at Fenway Park, and we now mourn his passing, grateful for the wonderful memories he left."

Doerr is survived by his son, Don, along with two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Tim Britton writes for the Providence Journal of GateHouse Media.

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